Closing the door behind her, Lillian leaned against it for a moment as she took a moment for herself.  That had been a long and exhaustive argument about the amount of work she had to pick up, but she needed the money so there could be little arguing with it.  Even if the amount of orders was ridiculous, she would finish them all even if she had to cheat extensively.  At least her apartments were welcoming, her sanctuary from the rest of the world that sometimes managed to test her patience.  Even if she travelled so much she only used it a few months a year, it was more than worth it.

 

The room was large, much larger than the one she had been given as an Accepted and this was just the main room for her work and receiving guests.  A round table sitting at the far end with a few chairs near the fireplace, not that there was a chimney.  Smoke was caused by the burning of wood and the like and since the flames she warmed her fireplace with consumed nothing but air, that wasn't an issue.  Along the walls were eight tapestries depicting the Aes Sedai of their colours except the eighth.  Purple, it simply showed an Aes Sedai with a smile on her face.  That tapestry tended to get a lot of questions from those who visited her, but she tended to leave the mystery of it for other people to determine for themselves.

 

Some of her fellow Ajah sisters had felt it unseemly for her to have such colour and decoration in her room, their rooms were for the most part white and spartan.  She'd usually met their challenges with a myriad of philosophical questions about the nature of colour.  For example, if the colours of the other Ajahs were the result of the colour white being split, and they were part of the White Tower, shouldn't they then be the Purple Ajah?  It had served to infuriate some people to no end, at least until they had realised that Lillian had deliberately side tracked them.  Then they had either laughed it off or become doubly infuriated, but they ended up not giving her advice how to decorate her room either way.

 

Several bookcases and tables lined the walls, each of the desks being specific work stations and the book shelves next to them holding any references that were pertinent to that particular work.  In this case, as she dumped the bag she had in hand on one of the tables, the art of gemcutting.  Sitting down, Lillian opened the bag and poured the contents out onto the table.  Ten different precious stones, all of them rough and untouched, all hers to work on.  Sitting the bag on the far end of the table, she picked out a ruby and placed the others on the bag so they were clear of her.  Opening the drawers to retrieve some tools, she began to get to work.

 

 

Lillian Tremina

Sister of the White Ajah

With one lesson over for the day--learning Red Ajah customs--Jagen decided to go right to her next, a lesson she had set for herself. With only six years as an Accepted under her belt, there were a few things that had not been taught to her. Now with more time on her hands and no one to boss her around--except the Highest, she supposed, and maybe Sitters, and the Amyrlin--she took it upon herself to study those things she had missed. At least things heaving to deal with the One Power.

 

Musing about how she didn't need history, a strange thought came to her head. With the Dragonsworn and male channelers wrecking so much havoc outside she was reminded of Artur Hawking and how he had made his kingdom. He had his armies run over kingdoms and conquer them and forced them to submit. Could the Dragon be doing the same thing despite all the casualties and negativity aroudn the actions?

 

The idiot probably wants to be more feared than he already is. Shaking her head, Jagen strolled into the White Ajah quarters. She wasn't sure if her presence was welcome or not since she went Red, but nearly ignoring any Sisters she passed, she concentrated on finding Lillian's door. She knocked softly.

 

"Lillian, it's Jagen."

 

"Come in!"

 

The door opened. The Red strolled in, giving a polite smile to Lillian, and then her eyes immediately went to the tapestries on the far wall. Studying them with a glance, she paused on the last. And laughed, an amused, musical sound. It faded and Jagen kept her smile on her face, a clever look if there ever was one.

"Already trying to change the Tower, yes?" She looked again to indicate the tapestry. She wasn't sure how smart it was for the White to keep it up, but then she also found it amusing. She wasn't sure why. Mayhaps it was the state of the Tower that made her find it so funny. The problem with all the Ajahs could be solved if they just abolished the Ajahs altogether.

Or maybe everyone should be Red, she mused for a moment, but that didn't last long. That was impossible and she didn't truly desire that besides. But she did regret the Red Ajah's own state in the affairs of things. However she planned to change that, too.

 

"I came here for a request Lillian, if you'll hear me out. My Accepted days were busy ones but I admit I didn't learn all I had to. I think, sometimes, I was raised for other reasons." Pausing briefly, then she went on, "well getting to the point, I was going to request your help in learning some weaves of Spirit."

 

Smiling at Jagen's comment about the purple tapestry, she listened attentively to the request that Jagen had come to make.  That she had been raised quickly Lillian didn't argue with, she'd spent ten years as a Novice and another twenty as an Accepted whereas this woman hadn't even spent half that time in her whites and banded hem.  There would be much she would have missed, even if Lillian's time was exceptionally long she knew that Jagen's should have been longer.

 

"Weaves of spirit?  I suppose I could, but..."  Looking at the work infront of her, Lillian turned back to Jagen with a smile.  "Weaves of spirit it is, please, go and take a seat over by that table there, I'll go get some tea."  Standing from her seat, Lillian walked into one of her side rooms and emerged after a short period with the tea set.  Sitting the platter on the round table where Jagen had already taken a spot, Lillian sat next to her rather than opposite as she embraced the source and heated the tea.  It didn't take long before they each had a cup in hand and for Lillian to ask.  "What do you want to learn in particular?"

 

Jagen weighed the woman's strength against her own, deciding that she wouldn't after all learn Traveling from her. "Well, there is one called 'false trail' that I never learned. And 'vanishing letters,' and trace--that one could come in handy definately--seal, and I never did learn eavesdrop. Well, you get the point." She smiled, not wanting to list too many at once.

 

"Well, eavesdropping is terribly rude...  But having said that, it can be handy."  Smiling, Lillian added.  "False trails I cannot show you here, but vanishing letters is easy enough."  Embracing the source, Lillian looked about and snagged a piece of paper, a quill and an inkpot from another table and levitated them over.  Taking up the quill and dipping it in the ink well, she quickly wrote down a couple of verses of a bawdy tavern song.

 

"Now, observe."  Spirit was woven into an intricate pattern and laid into the paper itself, in particular around the verses of song.  Rolling the paper up, Lillian laid it on the table and pushed it over to Jagen and spoke while she read.  "When you take it up you can read what is on there.  After you put it down, the message disappears, and if anyone else picks it up the message erases itself.  There are ways to alter it so bad things can happen to someone who isn't meant to read it, or simply embaressing, but thats the basic form of the weave."

 

"How do you make it for a particular person?" she asked, unrolling the paper and reading it. Her quirky smile broke a curious face. "I do hope if you send me letters they are nothing like this."

 

"Its tricky, but essentially you imprint what you know of the person of the person's thread into the weave.  The weave reacts when it makes contact with the right person and erases the message after its been thrown away, or it reacts badly and erases it.  You can also make it do other things, like go up in flames or perhaps emit a piercing shriek.  The latter is particularly effective if you want to encourage people not to read your mail."

 

Smiling, Lillian pushed the inkpot and quill over to Jagen.  "Have a go at it, its easy enough to replicate once you have an understanding of the weave."

Jagen was holding the pen still in her hand, wondering what to write. "Alright, I understand, I think." She wrote down a single sentence and set placed the quill back in the jar. Then she carefully replicated what she observed Lillian do, concentrating hard on thinking of the woman next to her as she did so.

 

Once it settled in Jagen looked up, asking, "Did I do it right? How can I tell it worked?"

 

"Easy way to find out."  Smiling, Lillian reached over and took the paper.  Unrolling it, she looked at what had been written and frowned briefly before smiling.  The promise of Spring erases the shame of Winter."Interesting choice of words."  Putting the paper down, Lillian then took Spirit and wove a solid wad of spirit onto the paper, leaving a slight imprint of herself on it as she did so.  Handing it over to Jagen she smiled.  "Do what I just did then, its similar to a bond but not quite so powerful.  Make sure to leave an imprint of yourself within the Spirit as you place it on the paper."

 

"Yes, alright," Jagen said with a nod, and with ease she replicated that simpler weave as well, leaving an impression of herself on it. Of course. She did understand, now. That slight feeling, like a spirit's presence behind her, faint yet close. Learning to recognize an impression was like learning a weave, she thought.

 

"What may I learn next? How about Trace?" Knowing it had to be placed on an object she took out a Tar Valon mark from the small pouch at her side.

 

Chuckling, Lillian took up the paper and began to scrunch it.  "This is a trace.  Close your eyes please."  As Jagen did so, Lillian tossed the paper far away into a corner.  If the trace was done correctly, then she would be able to sense where it was, generally.  "Point to what direction you sense it is in."

 

Jagen pointed, lips slightly tight. She hadn't understood at first that the second weave she performed had been trace. But she sensed it now. She had weaved it without even knowing what she was making, but she had it in her head now. For practice later. Jagen pointed in a direction off to her side, somewhat behind Lillian but across the room, she was sure. "I can sense something--the paper?--over there. Yes."

 

"Correct, you can open your eyes now."  Using a thread of air to retrieve the piece of paper, Lillian set it on the table.  "Now, I'm going to show you what is called the seal, similar to the vanishing letters.  This goes a step further."  Taking two pards air and three parts fire, she wove them together with spirit binding them together, implanting a word within the thread that she barely whispered as she wove.  Setting the paper down, she pushed it towards she pushed the paper over to Jagen as she spoke.  "As you touch the paper, say Ajah."

 

Watching her do so, Lillian nodded then asked her to put the paper down.  Reaching over and taking the paper, she only had it for a moment before it burst into flame.  Tossing it toward the fireplace before she was hurt, Lillian smiled at Jagen.  "This way you can make sure no one reads your papers or having access to anything else of yours without being allowed to.  There are ways to undo the weave before you set it off, but you can make the weave increasingly complicated and sensitive to tampering to counteract that."

 

Lillian was about to demonstrate when she heard a knock at the door.  Turning, Lillian called out.  "Come in!"

It was a rare day now that Vera could indulge in pleasures such as visiting old friends, even if it was to ensure that the relationship didn’t fade, or to even to bring to it a deeper, newer touch. She had risen a little later than usual; the night before had stretched into the early hours of the morning, pouring over books borrowed from a Brown as she grappled with the words and the history twined within, alike. A quick bath so that she would sail out on fresh waters, followed by clothing herself in a pale blue dress of the elaborate Cairhienin cut, Vera had chosen to dress with a little more grandeur than usual. While she wasn’t sure what had caused the flare of desire in her, she couldn’t say she disliked the dress. A glance in the mirror had told her that the finished result was really not that bad at all.

 

Pleased, refreshed, and eager, she had swept out in high spirits. She had chosen who to call on long before, when she had first awoken. As she glided down the hallways, exchanging pleasantries became a quick affair and as they went by, a face etched itself in her mind. Emerald green eyes came out sharply in a face framed by tresses of jet black hair. Lillian Tremina, Sister of the White, once her student, was now a close friend. They had both been serving the Tower for several years now, coursing their way through untested grounds and embedded traditions alike, and their friendship had remained the same. Flourished, even.

 

The path to Lillian’s quarters wasn’t difficult. Having been a regular visitor now for a fair amount of time, she and the White Sisters in turn, had developed a sort of familiarity. An understanding of the purpose of her visit, and so it took little but a small smile before she made her way into her friend’s rooms. Knocking softly, she stepped in almost immediately after Lillian called out to enter. Smiling widely as Lillian stood, she took in the sight of Jagen without any indication of surprise- Lillian was one to acquaint herself with new Sisters, and then progress on to befriending them with little effort.

 

“Lillian, Jagen.” She named them both as she greeted them. “I just thought I’d pay you a visit,” she started, “and found that you’ve company already. I hope I’m not interrupting..?” She looked in askance at both Sisters, beginning to plot an apology in her head as she did, and also a means to stay by. She hadn’t talked to Lillian in a while, and who knew when she would chance upon another free day such as this?

 

Vera Cadsanome

Gray Ajah

Social Butterfly :D

 

"Don't be silly, of course you're not interrupting.  In fact, I think we could use your help.  If you would come over here for a moment?  I'm demonstrating some weaves for our new sister."  As Vera came and stood with Lillian, she turned and smiled to Jagen who was watching with interest.  "A few more to go, and the first one is an illusion that I'll wrap around myself, observe."

 

Wrapping fire, air, water and spirit around herself, she used the spirit to help shape the other elements to the image that was in her mind.  The air shimmered around Lillian, and then to the naked eye she metamorphisised into Vera, leaving two identical sisters looking at each other.  "As you can see, this illusion only handles your appearance, but with the right air weave you can alter your voice as well.  But, now to take the illusion a step further, you can anchor an image onto someone else."

 

Replicating the weave but tying it onto her target then off so it was self sustained, where Vera had stood, now it appeared that Lillian stood.  "Always remember to use the spirit to project your image and to help shape the other elements to make the image in your mind real.  Details are also important, but remember that illusions will rarely stand up to close inspection if someone is within the sphere of the illusion's influence.  Lastly, I want you to try and use this weave that I'll now demonstrate."

 

It was four parts spirit and two parts air, but soon enough, a spirit connection flowed from herself to the middle of the room.  "This is how you eavesdrop, you can manipulate it so it moves around, even into places you cannot see you can push it into blindly.  It won't get by a ward against silence though if the ward is solid.  You can also feel about into a room or area while blind, or in darkness, which can come in handy at times.  In fact, we'll test that now.  One moment.  Actually, Vera, come with me."

 

Walking to the door, Lillian opened it and allowed Vera through before closing it.  It led into a small corridor with two side rooms jutting from it and her bedroom at the end of it.  Smiling at Vera, it took a mere moment to communicate what she had in mind before she disappeared into her room.  Immaculate, everything had its place much like the rest of her quarters.  Reaching into a drawer and retrieving a white scarf, she closed it and exited her room and went back to the main room where Jagen was.

 

"I'm just going to tie this on, I want you to push the eavesdropping weave into my room and when you can hear me and Vera, I want you to come in."  Tying the scarf as a blindfold only took a moment, and then she returned to her room before sitting down and conversing with Vera.  Checking about her room as she did so, she was satisfied that everything was exactly where it was, down to where the chair sat at her personal desk.

 

Looking up towards the door, Lillian smiled when she saw Jagen's look of triumph then confusion.  She was the only person sitting in the room...

 

 

Lillian Tremina

Sister of the White Ajah

 

Jagen lowered the cloth on her head for a moment to weave the eavesdropping. She very well couldn't channel if she couldn't see, but once she replicated the rather simple weave she put the blindfold back on and settled her shoulders. Delicately she probed around with the Power. She could feel the room on the other end of the strands, almost as if with her fingers. She stood up and began walking, holding the weave closer, and side-stepped the table.

 

She continued walking a few steps until she felt the door at the end of her weave, some seven feet away, and manipulated the tiny weave around, prodding for the keyhole. She slipped it through and heard her Sisters' words. She smiled and opened the door, taking off the blindfold.

 

She was wearing a smile, but it faded at only seeing only Lillian sitting there. "Wh--" she stopped herself from asking the question and looked around. Was Vera really there but under an Illusion?

 

Then she began to understand. They tricked her with the Power to think that Vera was there before he came into the room. "Where is Vera?" she asked, wanting to know where she really had gone.